FPS Evolution: Maze War to Modern Warfare [S01E05]

Ian, Al, and Tim trace first-person shooters from 1970s NASA research projects to today's microtransaction machines. The genre peaked with single-player campaigns that had character and personality, then corporate greed killed everything good about shooting things on a computer screen. This covers how FPS games went from academic experiments to id Software's revolutionary trilogy to the console wars that split PC and living room gaming into separate universes. The hosts examine why modern shooters are generic military simulators with pink weapon skins instead of the memorable protagonists who used to crack jokes while saving the world. Three middle-aged gamers conclude that better graphics came at the cost of everything that made FPS games worth playing, then spend twenty minutes arguing about GoldenEye control schemes and whether Duke Nukem's on ...